“This bill restores the constitutional balance of power by taking away authority inappropriately exercised by the secretary of health…”
“Staying at home doesn’t mean making a daily stop at the grocery store because you need to get out of the house. Staying at home means you must stay at home.” – The unelected Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine
The measure would bar state, local and county governments and public schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccines to receive services and from creating vaccine passports.
It would also bar the secretary of health from handing down public health orders that limit the activities of people who aren’t sick or haven’t been exposed to an infectious disease.
House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said that, when voters approved two constitutional amendments limiting the governor’s emergency powers last month, it signaled that the public has tired of the governor and his administration having too much control of their lives.
“This bill restores the constitutional balance of power by taking away authority inappropriately exercised by the secretary of health, clarifies the law’s correct language and restores more liberty to the people of Pennsylvania,”
Pa. House passes ban on vaccine requirements; Wolf says he’ll veto it
- By John Finnerty jfinnerty@cnhi.com Jun 23, 2021
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 112-89 to pass a bill that would limit the power of the secretary of health, bar vaccine passports and limit which entities would be able to require vaccines.
Those limits would include barring colleges from requiring vaccination, even as many colleges have already announced plans for requiring vaccines.
The bill also passed the Senate, but was amended in the House. The Senate could vote on whether to concur on the House changes as soon as Thursday, said Erica Clayton Wright, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland.
Gov. Tom Wolf has indicated he will veto the bill.
The measure would bar state, local and county governments and public schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccines to receive services and from creating vaccine passports.
It would also bar the secretary of health from handing down public health orders that limit the activities of people who aren’t sick or haven’t been exposed to an infectious disease.
Among the changes, the House added language barring any college that gets assistance from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency – which would include almost all public and private colleges in the state – from requiring vaccines to enter their buildings or use their services.
The limits on the secretary of health’s powers are not tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and would remain in place during future public health emergencies.
Lyndsay Kensinger, a spokeswoman for Gov. Tom Wolf, said the governor has never called for vaccine passports for people to access government services, but thinks private organizations and businesses should have the right to set their own requirements.
“The recently added amendment is dangerous and would undermine any attempt to protect public health in any circumstance. The governor plans to veto the bill in its current form,” she said.
State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said that lawmakers working have been told they don’t need to wear masks while at the Capitol, but there’s no effort made to require proof that those not wearing masks have been vaccinated. “We take it on faith” that those who aren’t wearing masks have gotten vaccinated, he said.
Frankel also said that, if he was immunocompromised or otherwise more susceptible to becoming seriously ill if exposed to COVID-19, he’d “want more than a wink and a pinky-swear” to confirm that people who say they’ve been vaccinated have been.
The move to limit the secretary of health’s powers and to limit the ability of government offices to require proof of vaccination comes days before the state budget is due, said House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia.
“We don’t need to spend another afternoon spending hours on bills that are going to be vetoed,” McClinton said.
House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said that, when voters approved two constitutional amendments limiting the governor’s emergency powers last month, it signaled that the public has tired of the governor and his administration having too much control of their lives.
“This bill restores the constitutional balance of power by taking away authority inappropriately exercised by the secretary of health, clarifies the law’s correct language and restores more liberty to the people of Pennsylvania,” he added. “It is a logical extension of the action we took a few weeks ago to end the COVID-19 disaster declaration and reins in the ability of one person to have unilateral control over Pennsylvanians.”
PA Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 38 